Jackson scoops THREE awards for flood defence projects across the country

Jackson has had a brilliant summer, and picked up several awards for flood defence projects across the country.

In the North, the Pickering ‘Slow the flow’ Flood Alleviation Scheme in North Yorkshire won the ‘Judges Special Prize’ at the Civic Voice National Awards. This is a pioneering flood defence project which consists of a water storage area on a river upstream of the town, as well as tree planting and improved land management to slow the speed of rainwater coming off the surrounding moors, before it reaches the town of Pickering.

The judges felt that the scheme sets a precedent in presenting an innovative way of looking at the landscape as infrastructure, and has huge potential to be replicated across the country in other flood threatened areas.

In the East of the country, two of our flood defence schemes for the Environment Agency have won ICE Merit Awards.

The Steeple Bumpstead Flood Risk Management Scheme won a Team Achievement Award due to the complexity of the project and all the partners involved. The £4.5m scheme to protect the village of Steeple Bumpstead in Essex combined a variety of construction methods with challenging working conditions and a very strong public interface.

The judges described the project as “A leading example of innovative engineering work, close knit partnership working and highly effective community engagement.”

Waldringfield Flood Defence Scheme also won a Team Achievement Award. This project, partnership funded by the Environment Agency and the community-led ‘Waldringfield Flood Defence Group’ was able to challenge some of the constraints that usually surround the delivery of relatively small scale engineering projects. This has been achieved by the EA and JacksonHyder working closely with the WFDG to develop an innovative partnership and team approach to funding, resulting in the scheme being funded, designed and constructed within 12 months.

The judges said: “The team demonstrated a passion, commitment, drive and determination in partnership to make the project a success. Lessons have also been carried forward to identify how other small projects could benefit from a similar approach.”